Archbishop Molloy's Carolyn Gallagher will spend most of July backpacking though Utah and Arizona.Denis Gostev

Carolyn Gallagher will be switching from sneakers to a pair of hiking boots this summer.

The Archbishop Molloy rising junior played the spring portion of the AAU season with the NYC Lady Bulldogs, but will be putting the ball away for the majority of the live recruiting period to go camping through the Grand Canyon. It is part of the Boot, Saddle and Paddle trip offered by Bold Earth Adventures that runs from June 30 to July 23.

“My whole life isn’t basketball,” said Gallagher, an All-City third team selection by The Post. “I have to experience the outside world.”

During the journey she will backpack through Utah and Arizona and make camp along way. Gallagher will get to experience Capital Reef National Park and go whitewater rafting in the Colorado River. Her older brother, sister and cousins have taken the trip and it was just something she felt was worth doing. Gallagher can even use her sister Catherine’s gear.

“They just told me it’s such amazing experience being in the Grand Canyon and just sleeping there and that I should just do it,” she said.

The news came as a bit of a surprise to her Bulldogs teammates and coach Tom Catalanotto, who also coached Gallagher at Molloy last season. The team is coming off winning the GymRat Challenge in Albany last weekend. Fellow Stanners rising junior Amani Tatum said her presence will be missed, but they understand why she is going. Gallagher’s world has always been about more than just basketball.

“I know she likes the arts,” Catalanotto said. “She doesn’t live far from Lincoln Center. I know she has other interests.”

The 5-foot-10 Gallagher will play with the Bulldogs this weekend at Island Garden before heading out west. She had her return flight arranged so she can come back a day early to participate in tournament that weekend.

She doesn’t believe missing time will hurt her in the recruiting process, in which she is a looking for a strong academic school and has gotten early interest from Ivy League programs. Gallagher has already let Catalanotto know she will be available for the entire summer next year.

“I’m not too worried about it,” she said. “If colleges are interested they are not going to forget about me if I don’t go to AAU tournaments.”

Last season, Gallagher was a big reason Molloy won the New York State Federation Class A title. She scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds against Peekskill in the state Federation title game and had a career-high 30 points versus Holy Trinity in the CHSAA semifinals.

But for a few weeks Gallagher will leave basketball behind and enjoy beautiful waterfalls and horseback riding. Then it’s back to business.

“After that I promised myself I was going to work really, really hard on just my basketball skills,” Gallagher said. “I’m not going to be partying and doing that stuff.”